South Burlington Planning Commission votes to warn public hearings on LDR amendments and official map changes

The South Burlington Planning Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to warn public hearings on proposed amendments to the city’s land development regulations and an update to the official map, scheduling both hearings for 7 p.m. July 8 at City Hall.

Planning staff presented a packaged set of edits labeled LDR 25‑01 through LDR 25‑07 and a companion official map revision that would add a planned road and a shared‑use path along the edge of the U‑Mall (UMall) area. Kelsey, planning staff, told the commission the package bundles several related clarifications and one substantive change tying the definition of “long‑term care facility” into Article 18 (inclusionary zoning).

“The long term care facility definition will replace the prior, split terms and congregate care will remain a sub‑use for the purposes of inclusionary zoning,” Kelsey said, summarizing staff’s recommended language and the compromise reached with outside stakeholders.

The amendments also include a new approach to categorizing fitness centers: smaller, consumer‑facing studios such as yoga or Orangetheory-style classes would be treated as consumer‑facing commercial, while larger facilities with courts, pools or running tracks would be categorized as indoor recreation to reflect different building types, peak trip generation and likely future reuse patterns.

Commissioners and the public raised questions about parking and transportation: one commissioner said the Edge fitness locations had outgrown parking supply and asked how evolving uses affect on‑site demand. Planning staff noted the city has no minimum commercial parking requirement and that a change of use requiring site plan review could trigger traffic‑related mitigation.

On the official map, staff said Centennial Woods Way and a segment near the DoubleTree/Staples plaza are being shown as a planned right of way and that a currently dashed planned roadway adjacent to Williston Road and the UMall area is intended to become a roadway if and when major redevelopment occurs. Staff proposed adding a shared‑use path along the proposed UMall road; the commission voted to include that addition in the warned official‑map hearing.

Several members of the public asked for more time to comment and for refinements to block connections and paths in the city center area. Ryan, a member of the public, urged better grid connections between Market Street and Williston Road and recommended adding a parallel shared‑use path in places where the map shows a future road.

The commission made two formal motions: one to warn a public hearing on LDR 25‑01 through LDR 25‑07 as presented, and a second to warn a public hearing on official map amendment OM‑25‑01 including the shared‑use path addition. Both motions were seconded and passed unanimously with all commissioners present in person.

Staff said they will continue to work with UVM and other stakeholders on remaining technical edits (for example, how educational support facilities are treated in the institutional/agricultural table of uses) before the July hearings. The planning commission packet and redlined drafts will be available prior to the hearings for further public review.